1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of utility lighters used for igniting barbecue grills, fireplaces, campfires, and candles, etc. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of utility lighter having an improved child safety device for preventing children from igniting the utility lighter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional utility lighter are well known in the art and are widely used by consumers for igniting barbecue grills, fireplaces, campfires, and candles, etc. Existing utility lighters typically have a handle portion and an extended nozzle portion. The handle portion often contains a fuel container, a valve assembly, a piezo-electric unit, and a trigger. The nozzle portion often contains a fuel conduit connected to the fuel container and vale assembly. When the trigger is actuated, gaseous fuel is released by the valve assembly through the nozzle, and the piezo-electric unit generates a spark at the nozzle to ignite the released fuel. Continued depression of the trigger will cause the valve assembly to remain open so that the flame is sustained. When the trigger is released, the valve assembly is closed to stop the fuel supply so the lighter is extinguished.
Various safety devices have also been developed to be incorporated into utility lighters for preventing the unintended use of the utility lighters. Early safety devices often incorporate an xe2x80x9con/offxe2x80x9d switch for locking the trigger or the valve assembly when the utility lighter is not used. However, it has been discovered that such xe2x80x9con/offxe2x80x9d switches could not effectively prevent children from playing with the utility lighters because the xe2x80x9con/offxe2x80x9d switches could easily be switched by children.
In recent years other more sophisticated safety devices have been introduced for utility lighters. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,697,775, 5,897,308, 6,022,212, 6,042,367 and 6,093,017 all issued to Saito et al. for xe2x80x9cSafety Device in Lighting Rodsxe2x80x9d have disclosed several child safety devices for utility lighters that utilize various shaped locking members for locking the unintended movement of the trigger. However, there remains a need to design and develop a new safety device that is effective while easy to operate.
In addition, in existing utility lighters, the piezo-electric unit is arranged such that the telescopic inner shaft is moving with the trigger, which often results in damage in the piezo-electric unit and reduces its life. It is therefore also desirable to design a new utility lighter that eliminate the movement of the telescopic inner shaft, therefore makes the piezo-electric unit more durable.
The present invention is a utility lighter with improved child safety device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a utility lighter with an improved child safety device that is not designed to be operated by a thumb but rather is designed to be operated by other fingers in conjunction with the finger that presses the trigger, therefore making it more difficult for a child to ignite the utility lighter.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a utility lighter with a reversed piezo-electric unit arrangement where the telescopic inner shaft is not moving with the trigger but rather fixed to the body frame of the handle portion of the utility lighter, to thereby increase the life of the piezo-electric unit.
Described generally, the present invention is a utility lighter having a handle portion and a nozzle portion. A fuel tank is contained in the handle portion for supplying fuel, and a valve assembly id also contained in the handle portion and connected to the fuel tank for controlling the supply of the fuel. A trigger is movably mounted to the handle portion for actuating upon the valve assembly such that when the trigger is actuated, the valve assembly is opened to release fuel from the fuel tank to an outlet port of the nozzle portion. A piezo-electric ignitor unit is contained in the handle portion and having a telescoping inner shaft and a telescoping sleeve, the relative movement of which causing electric sparks to be generated at the outlet port of the nozzle portion, wherein the telescoping inner shaft is fixed to and remains stationary with the handle portion, and the telescoping sleeve is connected to and moving together with the trigger.
The utility lighter further incorporates a safety locking member mounted to the handle portion and movable between a locking position at which it prevents movement of the trigger and the telescoping sleeve of the piezo-electric unit, and an unlocking position at which it permits movement of the trigger and the telescoping sleeve of the piezo-electric unit. The safety locking member is biased towards the locking position such that the safety locking member remains at its locking position unless being actually moved to the unlocking position. Only when the safety locking member is actually moved to the unlocking position, the trigger can be depressed to cause the valve assembly to open to release fuel at the outlet port of the nozzle portion and also cause the piezo-electric ignitor unit to generate electrical sparks at the outlet port of the nozzle portion, to thereby produce a flame.